Teaching someone to drive

This post is useless without pics....

I've always wanted to give that reply!

 

Look farther ahead. People tend to drift when they're looking right infront of the car.

 

I could use a refresher lesson? How much and is it in the honda?
Erik

 

Simon, everybody knows that that post is only valuable when the little dancing guys with signs say it.

Brandon,
I've always enjoyed teaching people to drive, but it's always been family members.
So, I just wanted to mention the liability exposure consideration. Have you checked with your carrier on this?

 

hahaha your car actually looks like a driver's ed car!!! haha
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so it is erik's dad's car? so you teach her to pull out of the garage and back in?????

 

Pics? WE NEED VIDEOS.

I remember when I was learning to drive.. I nearly backed off the road into a straight 6' drop. haha. Whoops!

 

Maybe explain why people sometimes drift. The sideways slope of the road to provide positive drainage and inherently keep cars from drifting into each other. If she knows it is happening, she can learn to keep a little tension on the wheel to counteract the drift. My dad always taught us on the highway and let us drift off the road and then calmly made us correct the direction. It was nerve wracking when my older sister did that. The look forward suggestion is good also.
BT

 

They have Toyota Yaris and Acura TSX at my driving school.

 

I know I was told NOT to do this in drivers' ed, but I'd always pick out a point on the hood to keep in line with the yellow center lines. I thought it helped me from drifting off the road and into oncoming traffic.

I outgrew it fairly quickly and haven't had any problems so far.

 

If she has had such negative reinforcement that her parents have given up on her, I'd give it time. She needs practice, no distractions, and confidence..... all this comes with wheel time. Further, explain that the car might not track straight down the road due to wind, road design, or tire wear.

Practice......... on slower roads first until she gets comfortable.

 

lol lol
Erik

 

don't laugh. you were my personal chauffer at one point

 

Yeah I remember that! Let's get this thread back on topic. Brandon I remember being told to look ahead way way past the front of the car. Also, I remember my dad teaching me in a parking lot by pulling up next to a parked car and showing how in the side mirror you can't see the car and it showed that that is the blind spot and to always be away cars could be there you won't see until its to late.
Erik

 

First thing they teach you about approaching touchdown when landing an aircraft: Never Fixate. Keep your eyes moving. If you stare at one spot, your depth perception goes south.

Maybe start her out with a boat. -- Actually a sailboat can teach you to keep a little lee helm pressure going ...

News flash: all new cars will be fitted with Windows based traffic avoidance systems.
Now if we can only get people to look out through the windows.

 

A couple tips from my few times instructing new drivers (14, 15, 16 yr olds) at a driving course.

1. As everyone has already said, eyes are the most important thing.
-- Try to have her always looking up through the top half of the windshield, as far down the road as she can see.
-- Use "soft eyes" as much as possible. This means concentrate on what she's looking straight at as well as using her peripheral vision to keep herself between the lines and/or to keep an eye out for sudden obstacles.
-- If she is following a car, she needs to do her best to look "through" the car, or to either side. This is because reaction time using peripheral vision is much faster than while using focal vision. So if the car suddenly hits the brakes hard, she'll be better off if she's not looking straight at the car's bumper. This is really really hard to do, and hard to trust, but its true.

2. Emphasize smooth inputs. Be sure she knows that doesn't necessarily mean to turn the wheel slowly or to brake slowly, but to use progressive inputs.

3. Always know whats behind and beside her.


That's all I can think of right now - long day.

Hope that helps.